Psalm 126:1-2 NLT
When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.”
In the years that I travelled abroad for work, I visited exiles in refugee camps and detention centres. I felt humbled by the dignity of refugee families, but disturbed by the degree to which uprootedness had robbed them of all else. Their exile was almost always beyond their control. In exile, they were displaced and disempowered, unable to pursue a normal life because of their dependence on the actions of others. Return, if possible, offered them the only way they might pick up the threads of their lives.
In one sense, as citizens of heaven, we are exiles on the earth. Yet, in reality, we find a way to fit comfortably within the constraints of this “foreign land”. As with every exile, I must seek to make peace with my environment, while never losing sight of my homeland. I want to adjust, but never let go of my cultural distinctives. Indeed, these have the capacity to enrich my host culture. This is the battle between absorption and adjustment. Absorption demands that I jettison my cultural distinctives. Adjustment requires me to understand my context, yet confidently live out those distinctives within this alien culture, which is always a challenge.
We are not to simply wait to be repatriated, but our mission is to discover how to live effectively, knowing full well that this can never offer the full comforts of home. I must discover God’s presence in every experience and so reveal that while this is not my chosen environment, I can live at peace and find hope in each day.
It is easy to feel the reality of alienation in a world that is itself exiled from God. Yet, God is present in this world and we can find that presence and live by the values of our true homeland.
QUESTION: Do you struggle with the challenge of adjustment?
PRAYER: Help me to relate to the world around me, while holding tight to the values of heaven.

Released on 11 Mar 2020